VIEWPOINT

VIEWPOINT
Fall 2015
Becoming A Paralegal
by Katherine A. Jordan
Since seeing the call for articles, I have tried to formulate something in my head…and on paper…but
30 years is a long time to cover in a short statement!...
When I took my first paralegal course in 1983, very few
people knew what a paralegal was — or what they
could do. All instructors were lawyers, who tried to turn
their best and brightest students toward law school. If you
told someone what you did for a living, they would respond
with “What’s a paralegal?” Ten-second elevator speeches
were difficult to formulate.
Then came a period when programs specifically trained
paralegals but they still concentrated on the law and not
always the practical application most suited to the paralegal
student. Most instructors were still lawyers but some were
not. Having a practicing paralegal in the classroom, as either
a co-instructor or guest speaker, was being recognized.
Paralegals were being given more interesting tasks to perform
at work and greater latitude in which to perform those
tasks. The response from most people, though improved
from the early days, became “oh, you’re JUST a paralegal.”
Now that I have left the field, I find that training has
reached beyond associate degrees, certificates and bachelor
degrees to advanced degrees in the specific field of study.
It’s okay to be a paralegal without even thinking of going to
law school. You don’t need to come up with a ten-second
elevator speech because when you say “I’m a paralegal” the
response is “oh, you do all the work and the lawyer takes the
credit.” Becoming a paralegal is an accepted, admirable and
understood profession to which one may aspire; it’s an actual
field of study and not an afterthought or something with
on-the-job only training.
During the past 30 years, I have also seen much change
in the Massachusetts Paralegal Association. When I first
looked in 1984 for fellowship with other paralegals, the
MPA was difficult to find. It wasn’t until I started working
in Boston in 1986 that I finally “found” it and actually
received a response to my overture. My first event was a
get-together at Shelley Widoff’s Paralegal Resource Center.
Within days of attending, I received a call from someone
who had been there and I was offered a seat on the board.
They wondered…would I like to be treasurer. Because there
were so few volunteers, I went from nothing to being entrusted
with all the money within a few short weeks! Little
did they…or I…know this was just the beginning of a 17-
year journey.
My early days with the MPA were wild and crazy. We
were constantly trying to come up with ideas for events,
stay abreast of national happenings, locate volunteers who
would stay involved. At that time, the MPA serviced the
entirety of the Commonwealth. This was before the Central
and Western Massachusetts Paralegal Associations formed.
We were trying to be all things to all people. We weren’t always
successful but we certainly tried!
We had job fairs, events with speakers. The newsletter
continued to evolve and change but was always printed…
if not always on time! We stayed involved with the National
Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) (even assisting
with the Commission on Non-Lawyer Practice hearing
in Boston and having MPA members on the NFPA board)
and sent a speaker to a Legal Assistant Managers Association
(now International Practice Management Association)
meeting when they were in Boston. We amended by-laws,
held annual meetings, went on bay cruises and started specialty
sections.
Perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments I think
came from my years of involvement with the MPA occurred
with the assistance of Joyce Fiocca Bold when we convinced
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) to host
paralegal specialty seminars and not just ones for lawyers. It
was a struggle but with Stephen Seckler’s help, the first seminar
was held and over 140 paralegal attended. As they say,
the rest was history! For MCLE, it was a financial win; for
paralegals it was a training and recognition win.
Along the way, I, personally, continued to grow with
the MPA. When I wanted to run for the NFPA American
Bar Association Approval Commission position, I spoke
with a senior partner where I was then working and ran
the idea by him. He said it was a no-brainer — he had seen
how I had grown from the time I joined the firm until then,
now 15 years later. I came in being afraid to speak in front
of people and now I was giving lectures, commencement
addresses, even running seminars and workshops. When
I started my involvement with MPA, I was sure everyone
knew more than I did; but, now, suddenly, people were
coming to ME for advice! Plus, it was great knowing I was
the first person in our law firm to have access to the internet
and email. THAT came from my MPA and NFPA involvement.
I was always bringing new ideas back to the firm and
asking for them to be implemented. Sometimes they were
and sometimes they weren’t but at least everyone knew I
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